Photographs with a 'wow' factor (images restored)

[viscount]

There are number of black and white photos in the MAS collection which simply deserve being seen again, due to a certain 'wow' factor, but don't fit into any thematic post. Many are 12" x 9" professional quality prints, the extra quality shows, although a number have had a hard life, the RN shots having clearly been drawing-pinned to a notice board for long enough for rust marks to form.

All these photos are pre-1985, most by some margin. Where there is information on the back of the prints, I'll provide due credit, but many shots are not annotated.



1. Boeing KC-97L (note the extra jet engines on under-wing pylons) 0.30362 (53-362) of Texas ANG refuelling a McDonnell F-4D Phantom 50711 (65-711). Almost certainly a late 60s scene, before USAFE Phantoms gained 'base' tail codes. On the back stamped Rhein Main Air Base - Official USAF Photo. USAF photo by George Wegemann



2. A Boeing KC.135A 00320 (60-320) with SAC badge refuelling a Boeing B-52G 80171 (58-171). The caption on the back has been partially removed, but draws attention to the Hound Dog air-to-ground missles being carried. A Strategic Air Command Oficial Photo, which I would date as early 60s, pre Vietman War era.



3. A Boeing B-52D (note taller tail) in night operations camouflage releasing an impressive bomb load. Either 0-50676 (55-676) or 0-60676 (56-0676), both were B-52D serials! Probably late 60s era photo. Nothing on the back of the print.



4. Possibly the weakest image of this posting, this T-2C Buckeye trainer of the US Navy is on late finals for a deck landing. Just to make a hazardous task even more difficult the carrier appears to be in a sweeping turn to port! Nothing on the back of the print.



5. A Hawker Siddeley AV-8A 158387/4 of U.S.Marines Squadron VMA-513 hovering over the USS Guam. A Hawker Siddeley photograph used in MAS 'Flypast' magazine early 80s.



6. Space Shuttle 'Enterprise' riding piggy-back on Boeing 747-200 N905NA/NASA905, seen at Paris Air Salon 1983. The '376' number on the Boeing 747 is a 'Paris' identity number. Other than place and year, no details on the back of the print.





7 & 8. A type I have never seen, apart from the example with the IWM preserved at Duxford. Here on photos Avro Canada Photo, issued with the compliments of A.V.Roe Canada Ltd, Malton, Ontario are two different RCAF CF-100 Canuck IV, both impressively using JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off). That is according to notes penciled in on the back - I thought they are RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off). Help! Note that one aircraft has tip-tanks, the other doesn't.

Impressive photos though - and what great cloudscapes too.

[john1958]

Viscount, I remember the shuttle/747 Combo at Le Bourget that year.....I visited with the ex Mrs John1958!!! We were in the static area when she took off, when I realised she was going to do a big wide curcuit, we legged it over to the apprach area so i could get a couple of shots of her landing.
Then later that week, I watched her flying down the River Thames before landing at STN!!!! I cannot remember why she did this.
MANY years later,when working at LGW, one of the guys on my shift, a really nice chap called Brian, told me he had working for BAA security at that time, and thay had asked for volunteers to go and "guard" the combo while they were on the ground there. He even brought in some pics he took whilst there to show me!

John :-)

[viscount]

A few more action photographs with a 'wow' factor.

9 -11. These first three action photos are all stamped Photographic Section, H.M.S. Ark Royal, 1975, Official Photograph, Crown Copyright Reserved.



9. Buccaneer S.2 XV3--/034:R dramatically poised on the steam catapult fractions of a second before being hurled into the sky. Dated 17 January 1975.



10. F-4K Phantom FG.1 XT968/006:R of 892 Sqdn., rapidly accelerating to flying speed off the deck of HMS Ark Royal. Dated 1975.



11. Fairey Gannet AEW.3 XL497/041:R of 849 Sqdn, B Flight about to launch off HMS Ark Royal. Note too, the Wessex ASR hovering off the port side at the ready should the launch go wrong. Dated April 1975.



12. Wessex HU.5 coded Q of 845 Sqdn off HMS Bulwark lifting Royal Navy Hiller UH-12E XS172. Not a professional print, but an interesting one, unfortunately nothing on the back regarding the circumstances or photographer.



13. According to the notes on the back of this British Aircraft Corporation, Preston Division print, these are two of the substantial quantity of Canberra B(I)58 delivered to the Indian Air Force.



14. A Hawker Hunter XF523/N launching a salvo of air-to-ground missiles. Not very clear but it appears to be wearing 234 Sqdn markings, when part of 229OCU. If my recognition skills were finer honed, I could probably tell if it is a Hunter F.6 or a FGA.9 - it flew with the RAF as both marks. There are no notes on the back to help, unfortunately.



15. I've previously used this photo of two HP Victor K.2s from another thread (Handley Page aircraft) using again to show that the RAF are masters of air-to-refuelling too. Despite being in the rough air close to the ground, the following Victor is 'plugged-in' to the hose in this air show shot by an uncredited photographer.

[viscount]

So pleased with the previous posts of MAS Collection photos on this 'Photos with a "wow" factor' thread, I've got back through the boxes and come up with a few more. There some nice air-to-airs and 50s airliner shots, but I'm considering future themed threads for those two topics.



1.While a photo of a C-133 Cargomaster is impressive enough, on closer inspection of this civilian operated aircraft, presumably in Alaska, the 'wow' factor is the realisation that it is operating from a rolled snow surface! No matter how I adjust the settings I cannot read the serial out of the fuselage glare. Photo is labelled Peter J Bish on the reverse, but no further details.



2. A genteel feel to this timeless image of a Canadian DHC-3 Otter on floats. This Eamon Powerphoto captures C-FCDL of Propair on Lake Matagami, Quebec and was used in MAS 'Flypast 2:1983', along with the comment that the aircraft was ferried through Ringway on delivery en route Norway to Canada in APril 1968.



3. Always impressed by the sheer bulk of a Skyraider whenever I see them at Duxford. Here a pair in service with Squadron VA-174 United States Navy 134494/AK:404 and 139785/AK:405, both built as AD-6 Skyraiders, however as the aircraft type appears as A-1H above the serials this photo must be after the re-designations of 1962, and certainly before 1972 as the MAS 'USN Serials' book offers no mention of the wing code 'AK'. No credits on the back of the print.



4. Air-to-air refuelling always makes for impressive photos. This John Downey photo was used on the front cover of MAS 'Flypast 1981:6'. A wide-lens shot of an A-10A Thunderbolt II refuelling, as seen from the boom operator's station of KC-135A 63-8024, with Germany some miles below the clouds.



5. A heavy cropped with scissors image of a Singapore Defence Force Strikemaster, which graced the cover of MAS 'Flypast 1984:4'. A British Aircraft Corporation, Preston Division photo.



6. Three Wessex Hu5 of 845 Sqdn Royal Navy seen demonstrating the delivery of ground troops in a battlefield 'senario', presumably at either SBAC Farnborough or a Biggin Hill Airshow during the early '70s. XT467/G:B nearest the camera, with E:B and K:B - the 'B' denoting HMS Bulwark. No details on the back of the photo.



7. An 'iconic' image of the RAF "Red Arrows" over the Niagara Falls while on their first USA and Canada tour, whilst operating their Folland Gnat T.1s. A Ministry of Defence stamped photo.







8-10. These three shots are clearly taken by someone fortunate to fly with 'Red 10' during a display routine with the "Red Arrows" flying Folland Gnat T.1s. Must have been quite something flying so close to the wing-tip of another jet! No official stamp or credit on the backs.